Hate to say that all of these things mean one thing, and none of them mean more food for the starving…no, after crop data and research results are in, all GM seed (genetically modified) has proven is that is costs more to purchase the seed and forces you to use specific types of chemicals from specific companies only. What do I mean?

What is the Terminator Gene?

The terminator gene is a specific genetic sequence manipulation, where a new genetic sequence is inserted into a seed’s DNA. Once placed there, the terminator gene renders the seed and crop in which it produces sterile. Meaning no part of the plant is viable to use to replant the next years crops…so don’t bother saving the seeds from a crop with the GM Terminator Gene because you will never be able to grow anything, your plant and seeds are sterile.

The terminator gene was patented by the USDA and a company called Pine Land Co. However, Pine Land Co was purchased by Monsanto and we know they love to control the world seed market via contamination. It comes as no surprise they did what ever it took to own the terminator gene.

Why do we need the terminator gene in our food? Well, we don’t but seed companies who have a horse in the race do. They would love to have the world filled with nothing but their crop, earning them money. The terminator gene has no agricultural or economic benefits to the farmers who grows the food we eat, or the consumers who eat the food the farmers grow. Remember, you are what you eat, and frankly, no testing was done to find out how the terminator gene might impact a living thing (be it bug or human, insect or animal), so we frankly don’t know. The only defense companies employing the terminator gene into their seeds and the only reason to subject us all into the digestion of this terminator gene is “It protects our intellectual property rights, you can’t save any seeds on the life we own”. How does it do this? Well, the plant and seed are rendered sterile, so we eat this gene, it gets inside us and the plant has it inside it……all it does is force everyone year after year to purchase all their seeds over and over and over, no saving a single seed from your garden for the following year, they simply will not grow. In the case of Monsanto, who reportedly owns 90% of the world soy bean seed, it means that 90% of the soy beans planted around the world would have to be purchased from Monsanto directly, every year

…….so it means hummm……MONEY! And according to the Sherman Anti Trust Act, that is a monopoly and should be prosecutable in the court system. Only problem is, so many governmental officials were once employed by Monsanto or are currently enjoying the perks and benefits Monsanto forks out to purchase…I mean cough, cough “give perks to” them so I highly doubt you will ever see Monsanto coming under the fire of the Sherman Anti Trust Act…..EVER. I mean all those people we vote into the White House, they aren’t going to give up their vacation condo, the use of a private corporate jet, the nice cars, the wads of cash………..Why do what is right when you can do what is wrong and get rich doing it, or pretending to look the other way?

The germination or germinator gene is a gene which is placed into the genetic sequence of a plant, when introduced, you must purchase specific chemicals from the seed company just to get your seeds to germinate. This is a lethal blow to the organic industry as the moment you apply the chemical required to get your seed to germinate and grow, you are no longer organic. At the moment, this particular gene is not being used outside of study test groups. I hope it never hits the market because I am an organic farmer and feel GM has no place on my supper table or in the bellies of any human being.

Are genetically modified seeds (GM) saving the world?

Depends upon who you believe or speak to. The producers of GM seeds are painting beautiful pictures of no one suffering of starvation. They advertise that the crops resulting from their seeds will yield more, require less chemicals and will suffer from fewer blights or bugs. I mean that sounds great doesn’t it? A plant which won’t get eaten by bugs, won’t get fungus and will produce bumper crops with less fertalizers…..who wouldn’t think this is a great thing!

However, the reality is not quite as beautiful as the advertising campaigns these companies have undertaken.

“After Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybeans were licensed in 1996, “a once-productive national family farm-based agriculture system (was turned into) a neo-feudal state system dominated by a handful of powerful, wealthy” owners to exploit for profit. Menem went along. In less than a decade, he allowed the nation’s corn, wheat and cattle diversity to be replaced by corporate-controlled monoculture. It was a Faustian sellout, and it helped Monsanto’s stock price hit an all-time high near year end 2007.

Earlier decades of diversity and crop rotation preserved the country’s soil quality. That changed after soybean monoculture moved in with its heavy dependence on chemical fertilizers. Traditional Argentine crops vanished, and cattle were forced into cramped feedlots the way they are in the US. Engdahl quoted a leading country agro-ecologist predicting these practices will destroy the land in 50 years if they continue. Nothing suggests a stoppage, and by 2004, nearly half the nation’s crop land was for soybeans and over 90% of it solely for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready brand. Engdahl put it this way: “Argentina had become the world’s largest uncontrolled experimental laboratory for GMO” and its people unwitting lab rats.”

According to Dr. Doug Gurian-Sherman, a former biotech specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “After 20 years of GM research and 13 years of commercialization, GM crops have a track record that allows us to evaluate their future prospects… The weak performance to date raises questions about how much more of our scarce research dollars should be devoted to this controversial technology… Let’s be clear. As of this year, there are no commercialized GM crops that inherently increase yield. Similarly, there are no GM crops on the market that were engineered to resist drought, reduce fertilizer pollution or save soil. Not one.”

So if GM crops are not better, not drought resistant, don’t reduce fertilizer and don’t increase yield, why are the powerful chemical companies purchasing every seed company they can and trying to force them upon the population of the world. Sadly, the fact that you are a human being is the very reason. You require food and GM seeds earn more money because they are designed to work only with the chemicals the chemical company produces. They are purchasing all of the seed companies that can be bought and are trying to force GM upon you because it means more money for them. Your life, your health, the health of the earth, the health of the animal population, the dwindling bee population (thanks to triple stacking and BT plants)….none of this matters, what matters is the significant monetary increase and monetary generation for these companies. This is why they want you to think they are better. If we buy into the GM is better advertising, we are buying into a world of servitude for food to these companies.

Frankly I was born a free person, and I will go where I can remain a free person. I will not have someone turn me into their servant for food so they can earn more money. I will not subject my children or grand children to cancers, I will not subject myself, friends or family to a world void of morality so they can earn more money.

At the end of the day, all you have is your name. Your name is attached to everything you do, why not produce a name of value? Seems to me the most powerful human being and the most wealthy is the human that takes pride (which can’t be purchased), honor (which can’t be purchased) and compassion (which can’t be faked, not even with the greatest advertising campaign). All these lies for money, and the lack of care or compassion towards life mean nothing. The great campaigns trying to tell the world population how great they are might fool many in the population, but what good is a world of greedy fools? A greedy fool always has to look over their shoulder because they surround themselves with a weak fools, and eventually one of those weak fools will discover their power and become a powerful greedy fool! And that greedy fool has learned from the best, the original fool so they know how to turn the other greedy fools against the original Kings of the fools……watch your back—lmao

We look back and wonder how some of the ancient civilizations have disappeared, well I am quite certain greed was at the root of their annialation…..history has proven this fact over and over again.

I would like to share a link to a website that is promoting saving the bio-diversity of seeds. http://www.savingourseeds.org/index.html Now keep in mind you need to be careful about how you go about saving your seeds. There are many regulations and patents out there. In fact one corporation Monsanto, owns over 1,500 patents on food seeds alone. Most of the seed companies out there are in fact owned by really four corporations and they own those seeds and the plants grown from them.

When considering saving seeds from your own garden or crops keep in mind a few important facts:

Don’t save seeds on a patented strain (most hybrids and thanks to Monsanto, almost every seed…check for patents)

Personally I don’t grow any genetic modification (GM) plants, I refuse to eat GM seeds! I don’t want their fruits or vegetables and if it is a GM seed, you can bank on the fact that it is also patented. If you save seeds from a patented variety, you can and will be sued for doing so as it is patent infringement.

Plants such as the tomato, you need to cure the seeds to make them viable. The website above helps teach you ways in which to do this, please check them out. If they don’t teach you what you need to know. Hit the internet and do your research, just make sure you read lots of websites because chances of an inaccurate method are high. Most people simply copy and paste articles and chances are, wrong information has been copy and pasted thousands of times.

Many have asked why I do not teach or give the methods behind how to save seeds here on my blog and the answer is simple, because I will get sued! These companies love to make money, and frankly they don’t make enough money from seeds alone so they love to go out and police every home or rural garden. They offer rewards to individuals willing to tattle on their neighbors via “tip lines”, so even in rural areas farmers needing money love to rat out even their own mothers for the money.

Just make sure you aren’t infringing upon any patent laws, preserve the seeds according to the species and always have your crops tested at the end of the season for contamination from any GM seed in your area. Even if you don’t plant a GM seed variety, if your crops are contaminated by the GM variety, you are guilty of patent infringement, hence why it is important to fork out the money each and every year to ensure your crops have not become contaminated. Better you find out and not save them than to have a company like Monsanto show up and sue you for everything you have because you saved your own seed.

Anyhow, know how to properly preserve your seeds. If you are going to store them for more than one season, know how to do so in order to keep the seed viable. Without seed, you can grow no food, without the diversity of all our little gardens, we will suffer from blight when the world turns into monoculture thanks to companies like Monsanto and others that are trying to force you in that direction.

Millions of people died in Ireland due to the potato blight because they grew one variety (known as mono culture), when their potatoes died, so did their people as they had nothing to eat.

I will talk later about the patented gene called “the terminator” gene which is owned by the United States Government as well as the “germinator” gene which requires you to purchase specific chemicals from the producing seed company in order to get your seeds to germinate at all. But right now, I would like to ask those of you using heirlooms, you work diligently to keep them GM (aka contaminate) free and you store them properly so that we may all keep this world from being forced into a monoculture system which will kill us when that crops develops a blight.

For the record, many ex high up CEOs from Monsanto now hold high up governmental positions. And for the record, the fact that these “governmental leaders” state they are not in bed with Monsanto (yet accept their cash, vacations, condo’s, cars, homes and more from them). Here is a little tid-bit of reality folks….

At a July 2008 meeting, Monsanto officials announced plans to raise the average price of some of the company’s triple-stack maize varieties a whopping 35 percent. Fred Stokes of the U.S.-based Organization for
Competitive Markets (OCM) describes the implications for farmers: “A $100 price increase is a tremendous drain on rural America. Let’s say a farmer in Iowa who farms 1,000 acres plants one of these expensive corn varieties next year. The gross increased cost is more than $40,000. Yet there’s no scientific basis to justify this price hike. How can we let companies get away with this?”

The U.S. government is currently subsidizing sales of Monsanto’s triple-stack maize seed by offering lower crop insurance premiums to farmers who plant it on non-irrigated land – because the biotech maize reportedly provides lower risk of reduced yields when compared to conventional hybrids. The pilot project is especially specious because the U.S. government relied on data from Monsanto to substantiate the claim.

Once they own they crop, they control not only the price, but the food….when they own both the price and the food, they own the world.

Okay I really had a hard time trying to place a title on this post. So many titles are strong and most will think its just another gloom and doom post. The reality of this problem just makes me sick. The fact that it is backed by our government who is out there trying to get all the other Nations of the world to agree with them and do the same thing makes me even sicker. But the thing that scares me to death is that we have become more and more powerless by the day over things like our own genes that we were born with. And if something goes wrong with those genes, you have to pay a corporation through the nose to do anything with the gene because they made it to the patent office and own the gene you were born with.

So where am I coming from today? Well, I want to speak with you about several things, but the first thing is the change that Bush Jr. made at the patent office. You no longer have to create something to get it patented, you just have to be the first one to the patent office. Having said this, everything on this earth is patentable. And companies with lots of money are running a race at the patent office. Sadly this is a really bad thing for the society at large.

For example, the gene that is responsible for causing breast cancer was patented. How does this impact you? Well, all of the Universities and corporations doing research on breast cancer were brought to a screeching halt. Why? Because they are doing research on a gene which is now owned by a corporation. More specific Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City now owns the BRCA gene. And sadly they have brought breast cancer studies and the sharing of this information to a screeching halt. After all, they own the gene and anyone doing research on it must pay them money to study what they own. If they do not pay Myriad Genetics what ever they want, and go ahead and study it, they are sued for patent infringement. Many Universities right after the gene was patented were already sued for patent infringement and have decided that they simply can not continue their research or studies because they frankly can’t afford the fines and fees to do so now that the gene is owned by a corporation.

So here we have life saving research that was once going on to save lives, some corporation thanking President Bush Jr. manages to get a gene, which they did not create, patented so that they could make money on the right to do research or tests on it. But it could get worse, I mean if I were to get breast cancer, and I go through treatment to alter the gene causing the breast cancer, could they sue me, the patient, for patent infringement because I asked to have their gene (which they did not create, I was born with it) altered to save my life? And since they so-called “OWN” the gene, can I sue them because it is killing me? Nope, they didn’t create it, they only own it, so if I want to do anything with it, I have to pay them, but they have no responsibility for or over it because they didn’t create it, they simply own it. I love how the patent office is protecting them and their ability to earn income, but releasing them from any and all liability arising from it.

It makes me sick that so many companies own the genes in which our bodies are made up of. And they do so for one reason, TO EARN A BUCK! In this case, Myriad Genetics got it patented and brought research to a screeching halt, on top of this, since they own the gene, they are the only company that can to a blood test for it, and you have to pay their price to see if you carry this gene!

Keep in mind that the ACLU took them to court over the ability to have the BRCA genes tested in laboratories not owned by them, they won the first lawsuit, but Myriad Genetics and their legal counsel feel the decision will be overruled in their counter suit and any laboratory doing testing on their patented gene will be retro actively sued for patent infringement. Keep in mind, this gene was not created by them, they simply patented it due to the fact that LIFE can now be patented thanks to Bush Jr. The only thing you need is lots of money and to be the first person to the patent office. After that, you can sue, sue, sue everyone using, trying to use or even doing research on it for patent infringement.

Makes me wonder who owns the crab grass in my yard. That stuff keeps growing all by itself, I wonder who I owe money to because I use it by nature producing it in my lawn. Worse yet, if I want to get rid of it, I wonder if that would be a patent infringement as well.

So there was a great sale on lean hamburger at the market, of course I had to purchase some. Had great plans on cooking up a big match or marinara and meatballs tonight for dinner only I forgot to purchase the pasta. And no, I was ill in the mood to make the noodles by hand as that would take hours.

After digging around in the larder, discovered I had all the makings for tacos, except of course the tortillas. Hmm, didn’t have enough corn meal to make corn so I busted out the Harina mix. They are super simple, super quick and were enjoyed so much, the dishes were washed for me (maybe I should make them more often).

Ingredients:

2 cups Harina flour

1/2 cup water

Mix till it forms a nice dough ball, cover and allow to sit for about 5-10 minutes.

This recipe is for 12 6″ tortillas

Once the dough has rested, roll into a long rope of 12 inches in length, cut into 1 inch pieces. Take each 1 inch piece and roll into a ball, place on a plate under a damp cloth. Roll them one at a time either in a tortilla press or with a rolling-pin. I couldn’t find my press, so I smashed them in my hands to make them flat, then rolled a few times under a rolling-pin.

In a heavy skillet, turn the burner onto high or two notches below high, depends on how quick you are about rolling them out. Place your first tortilla and cook about 30 seconds each side or until toasted, place on a plate and keep going till they are all done.

As I sit here I am not sure what to say, this movie was so powerful and moved me to tears. Few movies have ever impacted me the way that this movie did. Most of it is in english, but there are sections that are subtitled.

Tissue alert! You may find yourself emotionally moved to the point of tears!

I really don’t want to tell you much about the movie other than the fact that this is a must see movie!

Greed, it truly does hold total power over those in positions to move society for their own personal agenda. And not to take away from the women living in societies like this today, but the whole greed, the fact that human life could mean so little to a man in the position of power that he was willing to toss aside a human life for his own personal greed.

Sadder yet, as so many Americans are on the brink of loosing everything, taxes are going up in our cities, states and federal levels….all in the name of greed. It made me realize just how much ALL of us have allowed stoning. Not just in the case of Soraya, but in our own personal daily lives.

When will we step up to stop what happened to not just Soraya, but thousands of women just like her. When we will step up against those that throw stones in the name of greed in our own personal lives? When will we realize the value of life, how precious and wonderful things can be if greed were not a part of the equation?

Final question: When will we learn to step between the stone thrower and the one being stoned? Even if it means personal harm?

Many people have been asking me which candidate I am backing in the next Presidential race. Well, sadly my vote and backing has not entered the race yet!

Give me a man or woman who does not have a campaign budget in the millions! Is not backed by the “special interest” groups, cleans and cooks for their families themselves without the use of a housekeeper, drives themself to work in their own car without the services of a driver, knows how to balance their bank book and knows when there is no money in it, they can’t just raise taxes to keep spending money they (we) don’t have, a candidate that wears a suit from a warehouse, not a designer name, doesn’t own a single pair of prada………

Give me a candidate that leaves from the west coast, with a backpack and camping tent on their back and a budget just large enough to cover the bare necessities just like how the rest of us are living. Whos campaign trail is to walk across America with their own two feet all the way to D.C. by the time we vote. Give me a candidate that has calloused hands from working just like the rest of us do! Give me a candidate that is willing to work for their evening meal along the way. A candidate who pitches their tent on the side of the road in the beginning because no one knows who they are. A candidate who fully appreciates a hot meal of some squirrel they found along the way and doesn’t complain that their prime rib wasn’t cooked to perfection. Give me a candidate that simply will not accept any donations or perks from any special interest group and is willing to say “No, not going to happen, the poor, the tired and the hopeless can’t afford this!”

Give me a candidate who fully understands and is one of the real Americans earning less than $80,000 per year, with a college education, struggling to keep their family home and food on the table. Because the “real” Americans aren’t the rich who can afford to wipe their ‘arse with cash when they are expelling their fine wine and lobster from the meal they ate the night before. A candidate who understands that any meal not made of ramen noodles is a “gourmet treat”.

Give me a “real” American Candidate, one that lives like the rest of us do, struggles like the rest of us do, has no money to run for Presidency but can walk from coast to coast, is willing and happy to do so in order to understand what the “real” American public is going through in order to survive.

Give me a candidate like this and I will tell you who will get my vote! I will even gladly walk many miles with them as they travel in the shoes of so many of us “real” Americans. I would not only walk many miles with them, but I would gladly bring them a glass of ice water on a hot day, the shirt off my back because theirs is tattered and my sneakers, even if they were my only pair, because theirs had holes in the soles.

Its fine and dandy that our Presidential Candidates are able to stay in 5-star hotels, in their best suites. It is fine and dandy that our Presidential Candidates are driven to work, have a housekeeper to make their beds for them, are paid for by the special interests groups backing the rich corporations that have ruined America.

Give me a true American, one that understands the real backbone of America is her people—-and her people aren’t JUST the rich and beautiful, America’s real people are the poor, the hard workers, the homeless…..something our current Presidential Candidates only understand in words. Only they don’t really understand the meaning of the words……..just the words themselves.

I like to add a soup bone, either ham bone or beef shank bone and cook it up at a simmer for several hours. It adds a nice extra flavor that I think makes it more hearty.

Ingredients:

1 quart peeled and chopped tomatoes

1 pint lima or butter beans

1 pint corn kernels

1 pint chopped cabbage

1 pint sliced potatoes

1 sliced turnip

1 carrot

1 small onion, minced

several sprigs of parsley or cilantro

1 tablespoon pepper sauce

1 teaspoon black pepper

Add everything to your simmered meat bone water, normally I use a large stock pot, adjust your ingredients accordingly, this recipe should make up at least a gallon. Bing the mixture to a full boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until all vegetables are tender.

If you prefer a thicker soup (which the men in our house can’t stand a ladies soup (a thin soup), they prefer soup thick enough to stand up a fork in–which is more like a stew–but that is how it goes. Mix 1+ tablespoons of flour into a cup of milk, bring mixture back up to boiling, slowly add the flour and milk mixture and stir until it thickens.